Ebola virus – why is the disease spreading so rapidly?

There has been a lot of talk about the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the death toll it is continuing to take.

The disease is spreading rapidly due to many aspects: one, being the incubation period of the Ebola virus can be up to 21 days. This means that many are spreading the disease through bodily secretions prior to getting symptoms. Second, there are no drugs to treat this virus or no vaccines available to prevent it. Third, and in my opinion the most critical aspect, is the inability of the African medical system to contain the spread of the infection. Unfortunately they lack strict isolation and sterile procedures that would be available here in the US. There is a lot of financial help, medical staff and proper education needed in the epicenters of the outbreak and my gratitude goes to all those amazing souls in the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Unicef and many more.

Is there a need for concern here in the US and how is this virus different from the common influenza virus?

Ebola virus is a RNA virus, just like the influenza virus, which means they have a similar way of reproducing in the body.

The flu virus is unlike Ebola, airborne. That allows it to spread not only through contact with bodily fluids, like Ebola, but also via air droplets from cough or sneezing or from touching infected surfaces and then touching one’s mouth, or nose, or food eaten (here is where frequent hand washing during flu season is of a key importance.)
The incubation period for the flu virus is much shorter than Ebola, only 1-4 days.

Even though the symptoms start similarly with fever, severe fatigue, body aches, headache, sore throat as well as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (the last three being less common in flu), the Ebola virus causes bleeding from mucous membranes and internally into organs – that being the most life threatening symptom of Ebola, responsible for high mortality rate of those infected by the virus.

How can we support the body during a viral infection if there are no drugs to kill the virus, like there are antibiotics to kill bacteria?

For severe life threatening cases of flu and certainly for Ebola cases the treatment is primarily supportive – consisting of proper hydration, the control of bleeding with anti-coagulants (in Ebola), pain management and oxygen administration, as well as treatments of secondary bacterial and fungal infections. All of those are readily available in the US and increase the survival rate significantly, especially if administered early on.

However, the most powerful ally we have against viruses is our own immune system. Our immune system produces hundreds of immune system cells and immune system messengers, called cytokines, that allow it to kill pathogens (whether it be bacteria, fungus or virus.)
One highly effective therapy that increases the production of all cytokines of the immune system and thus helps to stop the replication of a virus is major ozone therapy (also known as major auto-hemotherapy.)

During a major ozone treatment, 200-250cc of blood is withdrawn from the body using a closed sterile system. The blood is then mixed with precisely measured amounts of ozone and oxygen and re-infused back into the body. Ozone itself exerts a powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effect in the bloodstream, while at the same time helping the immune system to kill pathogens via modulating cytokines – working thus to prevent an infection all together as well as supporting faster recovery when ill.

Does ozone treat other viral conditions?

Because ozone stimulates the immune system as a whole, rather than being specific to one virus, it works non-specifically on treating and preventing all viral conditions – whether it be acute cold or flu, or chronic viral infections such as Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Herpes Simplex Virus I and II (HSVI and HSVII) or all forms of Hepatitis. For prevention, it is best administered every 4-6 weeks during the fall and winter months. For acute manifestations, it is effective in any stage of illness with the highest efficacy and fastest improvement being when administered at the onset of symptoms.
For more information, call Dr. Katka Novakova with any questions at 480-524-4304.